The Siege of Trencher's Farm - Straw Dogs: Gordon Williams: 9780857681195: Amazon.com: Books The Siege of Trencher's Farm - Straw Dogs Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. 4.0 out of 5 stars 4 Paperback Next Special Offers and Product Promotions Editorial Reviews Review "Williams’ sparse, almost Spartan prose is littered with a handful of really great turns of the phrase and a strong sense of narrative timing that keeps you turning page after page.

Far from your standard potboiler, THE SIEGE OF TRENCHER’S FARM is a classic of the genre and a perfect example of how to take a simple, violent encounter and stretch it for well over a hundred pages without ever feeling like it is simply spinning its wheels." - Ain't It Cool "Williams’ carefully measured and page-turning plotting, and finely tuned attention to the undercurrents of this story, keep things compelling." - The Playlist "A prime example of modern storytelling infusing noir and other genres into an original concoction of fiction, The Siege of Trencher’s Farm doesn’t waste any time delivering a wise and well thought-out message." - Review Fix Read more About the Author Gordon Williams is the author of over 20 novels, including From Scenes Like These which was nominated for the Booker prize in 1969. His most famous work The Siege of Trencher’s Farm was adapted into Sam Peckinpath’s controversial 1971 movie Straw Dogs. Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here , or download a FREE Kindle Reading App . Ignite your imagination with these editor's picks from Kindle books.

See more Product Details Publisher: Titan Books (August 16, 2011) Language: English Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces ( View shipping rates and policies ) Average Customer Review: By Jonathan Sturak on September 30, 2012 Format: Paperback Verified Purchase George Magruder is a civilized man, a man who doesn't believe in violence or guns. He believes in the advancement of mankind, using debate and discussion to address problems. George is an American. He married a Brit named Louise and together they have a young impressionable daughter. The Magruder family has been living in Louise's country for several months as George works on a research paper. They have bypassed the civilized city, renting a sprawling home called "Trencher's Farm" inside a mysterious village in the fringes of England, miles away from London, miles away from the rest of the world. As George, the civilized outsider, complains to his wife about the uncivilized village surrounding him, a storm begins brewing. George is about to clash with a group of locals who wants to bury him and his family along with the other secrets plaguing this backwater village.

During a series of bizarre mishaps, George finds himself harboring a legally insane pedophile as a group of hostile men, under the influence of not only alcohol, but years of repression, attempts to breach his house. A blizzard has crippled this small village, but it hasn't crippled the action unfolding at Trencher's Farm. George has the simple yet very powerful objective of protecting his home and his family. The last half of the book plays out in near real-time. This is the book's best and, conversely, most critical feature. It's literary genius to see George transform right in front of your eyes. He becomes a "man," at least in his wife's eyes, and uses his book smarts to defend, and ultimately attack, these intruders. Every man has his breaking point and Mr. Williams provides us with a window into George's transformation from a coward, to a strong man, to an inhuman animal.

Read more › The siege of Trencher's Farm: Gordon M Williams: 9780436571039: Amazon.com: Books The siege of Trencher's Farm Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1 This shopping feature will continue to load items. In order to navigate out of this carousel please use your heading shortcut key to navigate to the next or previous heading. $12.95 Prime Special Offers and Product Promotions Get a $75.00 statement credit after first Amazon.com purchase made with new Discover itÂ® card within 3 months. Terms and conditions apply. See offer for details. Apply now. Editorial Reviews Basis of the violent and suspenseful Sam Peckinpah film STRAW DOGS (considered by many to be his best) starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. Rare with signature. Signed by author on front free end paper (not an inscription). Don't have a Kindle? Get your Kindle here , or download a FREE Kindle Reading App . New York Times best sellers Browse the New York Times best sellers in popular categories like Fiction, Nonfiction, Picture Books and more.

See more Product Details Publisher: Secker & Warburg; First Edition edition (1969) Language: English Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 0.9 inches Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces Write a customer review Top Customer Reviews By James N Simpson on November 16, 2007 Format: Hardcover The Siege of Trencher's Farm has been rereleased under the title Straw Dogs (Bloomsbury Film Classics) which may make finding it a little easier and also cheaper. Even though the new release version's cover has scenes and characters (namely Amy) from the movie which aren't in The Siege of Trencher's Farm, rest assured it is still exactly the same book as the original title version. If you haven't read the book the basic plot is an American professor George Magruder is writing an English style book and so he can be inspired has agreed to his wife's request to relocate to rural England so she can show their daughter the kind of childhood she had. They rent and old isolated house known as Trencher's Farm in the area of Dando.

George is a quite shy and reserved and when the local tavern patrons make it clear they don't want him around decides to make no real effort trying to get to the know the locals. Amongst the small town population are a number of uneducated, racist bigots who have never gone more than a few kilometres out of town let alone seen the world (except a few that had to go fight in World War 1 but have dismissed the outside world). Since they can't see George doing any work they assume he is a rich snobby American and the fact he has an attractive wife only makes the situation worse. Meanwhile Niles a convicted child killer with the mentality of an 8 year old finds himself on the lose when the ambulance he is in crashes in the snow on route back to the mental asylum. Read more › A Siege at Trencher's Farm by Gordon Williams (Adapted for the Screen as "Straw Dogs") Book Review - The Daily Rotation Google+ Pinterest Titan Books is coming out with a new paperback release of Gordon Williams’ seminal novel about a man’s limits to civil behavior, The Siege of Trencher’s Farm.

The novel was originally adapted by legendary American director Sam Peckinpah as the movie Straw Dogs in 1971, starring Dustin Hoffman. Titan Books is coming out with a new release just in time for the remake from Screen Gems and Sony Pictures, which releases September 16th, 2011, starring James Marsden, Kate Bosworth, and Alexander Skarsgard, from director Rod Lurie. The book centers on George and Louise Magruder, and their daughter Karen, who have come to the small English town of Dando. Louise is British, and the trip means coming home for her. George is a literature professor who is taking the time in England to finish his book on the poet Branksheer, he believes the small English village will be a good place to get away from the city and just write. Their daughter Karen, raised in Philadelphia as an American, is upset she can’t see her friends, and worried that she won’t be accepted by the local children. The real story is that George and Louise’s marriage is on the outs. George is frustrated with Louise for not understanding his career, and for dragging him all the way to England.

Upon arrival, Louise is upset that George seems to care more about his book than for her, and she is beginning to resent him. Stuck in the middle is their young daughter Karen, who has kept this couple together longer than they would have been on their own. George is fascinated by the change in culture, he wants to befriend the locals, which he attempts to do at The Inn, the local pub. He wants to befriend them, but at the same time, George has been told that buying everyone drinks will only make them resent him more, for being a rich Yankee that likes to flash his money around. So he quietly sits and drinks, trying to find a way to relate to the people. Meanwhile, Louise grows further frustrated. She’s frustrated that George thinks Dando is so quaint, and that he can’t see that the rest of the town is mocking and judging him constantly. The locals see them as rich Americans, regardless of the fact that Louise is British born.

George hears the stories from the locals, the one about Soldier’s Field, where a soldier who had raped a village girl was murdered by locals in the 1930’s, each local taking a turn at the hacksaw that removed the soldier’s head, so each man was complicit, and none of them would talk. Such is the attitude of the village of Dando. He also hears the stories about Henry Niles, the maniac child killer with the mental age of 8. While Louise daydreams about a new life with the local poet, she has lived it for real, cheating on George, mostly due to her frustration with their life, and his refusal to take her bait into an argument. With Christmas approaching, they must put their differences aside and put on an air of normalcy for the local children’s Christmas party. On the other side of town, a crew of hospital workers is transporting Henry Niles, the child-killing maniac, who is very sick with liver problems and is being transported back to Two Waters, the mental ward, after recieving treatment for his liver problems. At less than 100 lbs, he is looked upon as a sick child rather than a human monster.

On the way back to Two Waters, however, the driver hits a patch of ice and can’t slow down fast enough, sending the ambulance tumbling off the road and into a ditch. Being the only one properly strapped in, Henry Niles is the only one who is awake after the crash. When he sees the blood, he’s afraid he’ll be blamed, like he was in the past when blood was on the scene of the child murders. His simple mind doesn’t understand the situation, so he escapes into the cold, having escaped and killed once before, which built his legend as the maniac of Dando. Louise arrives at the children’s Christmas party with Karen, and attempts to make friends with some of the locals, like Ms. Heddon, one of the more destitute families in the village, who have a failing farm, a mentally disabled daughter, and 4 other children they can barely take care of. To make matters worse, the father, Tom Heddon, likes his drink and spends most of his time and money at The Inn, where he and his farmer friends are held in check by local community leaders like Bill Knapman and Harry Ware, the owner of The Inn.

Karen manages to befriend Janice, the Heddon’s mentally disabled daughter, at the behest of her mother. But when Santa Claus is introduced, the mentally ill child is spooked and runs out into the snow. Around the same time, the overturned ambulance is discovered, without Henry Niles inside. Quickly, the community panics, knowing the child-killing maniac Henry Niles is on the loose, and Janice Heddon is missing. George, who was at the Trencher Farm, where they are staying, has decided enough is enough, he will go to the children’s party, so he suits up and makes the two mile trek to the party. Once George arrives, the hoopla has started, everyone is terrified Henry Niles has come across Janice Heddon and is doing terrible things to her. The men mount up for search parties, and George makes the decision to leave the party and take Louise and Karen to the relative safety of their home. On the way back, trying to navigate in the heavy snow, George accidently runs a man over in the drift. They quickly grab the man and hurry him back to Trencher’s Farm, where they can call Dr.

Allsop, the only local doctor, who is attending to Mrs. Heddon, who is already physically frail from her hard life. Once they arrive at Trencher’s Farm, George realizes that the man he hit was Henry Niles, the child killing maniac that everyone is looking for. With a partially working phone, George manages to reach Dr. Allsop and the closest police department, which is 8 miles away and has no way into town because of the large snow drift. Dando, as usual, is left up to its own devices, and its own way of handling problems. When he learns that George has Niles at Trencher’s Farm, Tom Heddon becomes enraged, grabbing his shotgun and a few local friends, and heads toward Trencher’s Farm, knocking Dr. Allsop out with the butt of his shotgun so they won’t be slowed down. Once they arrive at Trencher’s Farm, Heddon and his cronies have no plan, except to get at Henry Niles and kill him, while George tries to keep Niles safe until the police arrive, and proper justice can be served.

The rest of the siege focuses on Tom Heddon and his band of locals trying to get at Niles inside the Magruder house, going to major extremes to do so. Gordon Williams wrote The Siege of Trencher’s Farm in 1969, a seminal year for culture change. America was still viewed with contempt for their involvement in Vietnam, and their continued socio-economic revolution that was making the country richer than most others. George is very much a product of America in the late 60’s, he’s extremely liberal when it comes to matters of crime and punishment, being one of a dozen professors that signed a letter to The London Times speaking out against the possible hanging of the mentally deficient Henry Niles. He doesn’t see the bad in anyone, with an eternally optomistic outlook in regards to other people. This is what leads him to risk his family’s lives to protect the life of Henry Niles. Only, at first, he isn’t aware that he’s actually risking anything, he believes that Tom Heddon and the locals are only out for blood because they’re intoxicated and can’t think clearly, but he’s convinced that the police will arrive and diffuse the situation.

It is with the arrival of community leader Bill Knapman that really worries George. He believes the locals will listen to Bill and go about their way, but instead an accidental tragedy occurs, leaving Bill dead, and turning the pack of men into a roving band of murderers with a heavier thirst for Niles’ blood. Heddon convinces them all it’s like Soldier’s Field, that if everyone plays a role in Niles’ demise, then they all will be clear of any reprisal from the law or anyone else. Throughout the siege, George slowly burns from an overly civilized college professor into an instinctual animal fighting for his life. He devolves, at first thinking in a very ordered fashion, until he finally breaks down and is clawing and smashing with the best of them. Ultimately, this is all Louise was looking for, much of her resentment was held in the way George dealt with problems, seeing his civility as a weakness rather than a moral strength, like George sees it. The whole time, Karen sits terrified in her room, especially when the shotgun begins to boom. George eventually turns on his own civilization, regressing back to his animal instincts on many occassions, just to protect his family.

Ultimately, this is the whole point of the book, to see what a “civilized” man’s breaking point is. Throught the last half of the book, even when George goes into pure rage, he often still questions the rage, morally pondering his actions as he commits them. That is the ultimate theme of the book, to find what makes a man a monster. Is it a missing or hurt child? Is it men with guns coming to your house? In the original film, they made it the rape of the Louise character that pushes George to his breaking point. Here, there are much bigger moral questions, as most of the circumstances rely on happenstance, where a rape is never a confusion of circumstance. This makes me curious to see what Rod Lurie and his crew have come up with, transporting the setting to the deep south and changing George to an LA screenwriter. Either way, I’m curious to find out. I’m glad Titan Books is putting out this new version of an old classic, because I feel it’s one that hasn’t been read enough. Even after seeing the original film, I wasn’t fully aware how different it was from the book, or that the book was so good.

The cover on this new version is very slick, featuring the re-imagined image of James Marsden with his broken glasses, the villainous Alexander Skarsgard in the reflection. Hopefully more people that see the new movie will pick up this release, it’s a treat for fans of the 1971 film or new fans altogether, being different enough from the movie to keep everyone satisfied. 9.3/10 Straw Dogs - Extended Unrated Edition - ComingSoon.net French, English and Spanish Subtitles Running Time: 1 Hour 58 Minutes Synopsis: This film was originally released in 1971. It was based on the novel “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm” by Gordon M. Williams. (It is being remade again for 2005 under the name “Fear Itself” starring Edward Norton.) David Sumner is an American mathematician who has recently moved to the rural English town where his wife grew up. Quiet and mild mannered, he hopes to leave behind the violence of U.S. cities. But as he works on a book, his wife tries to get his attention and affection. When David doesn’t respond, she starts flirting with her old flame and his friends.

Unfortunately, her attention prompts the local thugs to start harassing David. As things escalate, David does his best to avoid confrontation. However, when a local mental patient seeks protection at David’s house from the local thugs, David must decide whether to stand firm or give in to the mob. In the process pacifist David is pushed to the breaking point in a violent, bloody climax. This edition of Straw Dogs is unrated, but the original was rated R and it features bloody violence, nudity, scenes of rape, dead animals, and other such loveliness. The Movie: This is actually the first film I recall seeing by director Sam Peckinpah. He was known for his controversial films featuring extreme violence. After viewing Straw Dogs, I see why. With its scenes of graphic rape, bloody gore, and pet death to make Fatal Attraction proud, it’s not a movie for the squeamish. (I never saw the unrated version, so I can’t compare it to the theatrical release.) However, the film plods along for an hour and a half before it gets to the action.

Because of this, the first 3/4 is hard to get through because it’s boring and the last ¼ has enough gratuitous violence to make it seem silly. One of the problems with the film is that there’s no likable character in it. Dustin Hoffman as David Sumner is a wimp in the first part of the movie and an idealistic fool in the latter part. By the time he finally stands up against the local thugs, he’s protecting a murderer. It’s hard to root for him. This is definitely a unique role for Hoffman. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him in such a violent performance. As for the other characters in the film, Susan George as Amy Sumner invites a lot of the problems on herself. She bares her breasts to the locals, then is shocked when she’s raped by them. She cheats on her husband and bugs him when he’s trying to work and make a living. When he ends up making a final stand in their home, Amy tries to thwart him. All in all, it makes it hard to like her. Every other character in the film is violent, sadistic, greedy, or a murderer.

In fact, almost every English character in the film is antagonistic or confrontational towards David, even in the most casual of encounters. All in all, it’s not a very flattering look at the rural English. They come across as the rednecks of the U.K. About the only portion I found myself interested in was the siege at the farm. It’s kind of like an R-rated version of Home Alone. David finds he must fend off 5 men from his house with no weapons. He ends up improvising. David uses boiling oil to throw at them, wire snares, clubs, and a large poacher trap. Some of his tricks would make MacGuyver proud. It’s an intense scene as you wonder what David’s going to do to keep them from getting in. Unfortunately, it goes over the top here and there enough to make it laughable at times. Straw Dogs is a film that intends to be a psychological analysis of what makes a man turn to violence. While there is some of that psychodrama here and there, the ultimate result is a film that is not insightful, impressive, or entertaining. It seems more like dated shock cinema. The Extras: There are no extras included on this DVD.

The Bottom Line: 0 comments Blu-ray Review Mired in controversy since it’s release in 1971, American maverick filmmaker Sam Peckinpah’s adaptation of Gordon Williams 1969 novel “The Siege of Trencher’s Farm” is the story of a young couple, nebbish mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman) and his beautiful and sensual new wife Amy (Susan George) who move back to her hometown in Cornwall so that David can focus on work and less on the upheaval of anti-war America. As David and Amy try to settle into their new home, David is concerned about his wife’s lack of inhibitions and the leering eyes of the workers they have hired to help fix up the property. When Amy’s ex-boyfriend Charlie (Del Henney) starts making advances, the tensions begin to rise, leading to a bloody siege that pushes pacifist David to the very brink of bloodthirsty madness.

40-years after its initial release in the US and the UK (and it’s subsequent ban on video in the UK in 1984–as part of the video nasties crackdown), Straw Dogs is a film that is difficult to view through anything other than the tinted lenses of time. With time, the film gains a lot of perspective and in many other ways, becomes even more controversial. To that end, it’s impossible to consider the legacy of Straw Dogs without tacking the films more notorious element–the rape of Amy. The extended rape sequence in the film, which is intercut with David’s hunting expedition is a juxtaposition of violence—with the meek David learning how to use a gun while his wife is violated in their home. It also foreshadows the violence later to come in the story. While the rape scene was trimmed for the initial theatrical release it was reinserted into the film later for subsequent VHS and DVD releases. What makes the scene so controversial is not the extent or the brutality of the moment—as witnessed in Wes Craven’s Last House on the Left, or Gaspar Noe’s Irreversible, or the legendary I Spit on Her Grave.

No, what makes the scene so cringe inducing for audiences then and undoubtedly today, decades after the feminist movement and political correctness, is the familiarity of the rape. Amy is raped by a former lover. The rape is never outwardly violent, no hitting, no tearing of clothes, no singing in the rain. The rape is slow and calculating. It is clear that Amy is distressed, but her groans are subtle and she never truly fights back almost resigning herself to the rape. Audiences, the MPAA, and the British censors were up in arms. Peckinpah appears to have had the audacity to have shot a rape scene where the victim seems outwardly to almost enjoy the rape. What’s even more controversial is that with Amy parading around bra-less and with full knowledge exposing her breasts to the workers outside her bedroom, over-masculine, apologists might even see Amy as ‘asking for it’—a defense that for years excused unwanted sexual advancement. It’s a worst-case date rape scenario where the victim’s sexual familiarity with the perpetrator and actions could be seen by a twisted few as something to be overlooked, understood or worse yet, even condoned.

The fact that after the event, Amy refrains from telling David, could even be construed as further interpretation of her compliance in the rape. Only later when Amy flashes back to the event—at a public gathering— do we see how truly scarred she is. Peckinpah was a ‘mans-man’ director, obsessed with violence, and with heavy right-wing political leanings. The entirety of Straw Dogs and the story that surrounds both the rape and the later explosion of violence from pacifist David is mired in Catch-22’s. Peckinpah seems to relish in that idea that if you stand for nothing you’ll fall for anything. He’s not interested in a film, like Craven’s Last House on the Left that shows if you push someone into a corner then they will fight back. Peckinpah wants you to believe that David is a hypocrite, that he preaches pacifism but deep down he is a killer and that it only takes opportunity to turn him into a bloodthirsty monster. And that is what I see as the ultimate debate that rages in Straw Dogs.

Is Peckinpah right or is he cynical and shoving his opinion of the left-wing Anti-war movement of the 60’s right in the flower children’s faces—waving a ‘don’t tread on me” flag in the middle of a field of daisies? I guess the debate will rage on but for all its ups and downs and violent resolve, Straw Dogs remains a masterful piece of storytelling that doesn’t provide easy answers—and that’s more than I can say for 99% of what passes through the multiplex on any given Friday night. Straw Dogs gets a Blu-ray release courtesy of the folks at MGM with a 1080p/MPG 4 AVC transfer of the film in its original 1.85:1 aspect ratio and it looks extremely good for the most part, with only a few minor scenes exhibiting grain that is in excess of the standard for the rest of the film. The blacks are solid in the night scenes and the color is rendered faithfully in the day, with an expected softness in the early morning shots.

The film has also been remastered with a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 that might serve more high-octane films better, but does a good job here in affecting the sound design. The real problem is that MGM has ported none of the bonus features over from the epic 2-disc Criterion edition of a few years back and we are treated for our Blu-ray upgrade with nothing but TV Spots and Theatrical trailers. So, the upgrade is going to be nothing more than personal preference. If you need the HD then I suggest grabbing this one on sale and hanging onto your Criterion DVD for all the bonus material—which is rarely upgraded to HD for Blu-ray anyway. It’s too bad, because the release really just begs the question, why didn’t MGM just let Criterion upgrade it themselves? Super Reviewer ½ Straw Dogs is a unique feat in the cinematic medium. This is a highly engaging picture with a talented cast and immaculate directing. Straw Dogs is a relentless violent picture that tells the story of a couple who move out to the countryside and they get terrorized by the locals of a nearby village.

The plot is very well layered and structured and for me is one of the standout performances of actor Dustin Hoffman along with his role in Rainman. This is a must see film for film fans and it will keep you hooked right up till the last blistering frame. Now this isn't a horror film, but the events that transpire within the movie are quite terrifying in retrospect and it serves as a powerful and disturbing psychological thriller with slight horror overtones. The aspect of home invasion is always something to fear and is pretty scary. Even if this isn't a straight forward horror yarn, fans of the genre should seek this one out just the same. I very much loved the film, and I think that anyone looking for something truly riveting will surely love this. Be warned, this is a picture that is very violent, but it shouldn't turn you off it either. Sam Peckinpah crafts a stunning piece of cinema that you shouldn't pass up. Straw Dogs is a near flawless picture that is a definite classic. The portrait of its violence is raw and gritty and unflinching. This is what keeps you on the edge and involved from the get go. If you love Dustin Hoffman films, don't miss up on this one.

The film blends all sorts of elements to make a picture that stands out above all the rest that comes in this style of storytelling. Alex roy Super Reviewer After finally watching 'Straw Dogs', I now realised why this film was banned for over 15 years in the UK. There is a certain scene that truly shocked me, as it gave the worst message a man could receive. Despite this, I was gripped for the majority of the film. Both Dustin Hoffman and Amy George gave both emotionally and psychologically unsettling performances, they may put you off from time to time, but you will keep sympathising. Samuel Riley An amazing study on violence with a breakout performance from Dustin Hoffman. Graham Jones Straw Dogs - YouRepeat Add our chrome extension to repeat YouTube videos at the click of a button Straw Dogs Choose your time range using the slider. Start: Use this link to share your repeat GIF Creation Settings Separate tags with commas or press enter (max 5 tags) Quick GIF Create Margot Robbie's Sex Scene in "Legend of Tarzan" Got Rough During Filming Straw Dogs Straw Dogs is a 2011 American psychological thriller film directed, produced, and written by Rod Lurie.

It is a remake of Sam Peckinpah's 1971 film of the same name, itself based on the Gordon Williams novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. It stars James Marsden and Kate Bosworth. Critical reception of the film was generally lukewarm, and it performed poorly at the box office. Adapted from: The Siege of Trencher's Farm Release date: September 16, 2011 Executive produced by: Beau Marks Country of origin: United States of America, United States of America Rating: R (USA) Bic Straw Dogs Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based upon Gordon M. Williams's 1969 novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching that likens the ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog to forms without substance. The film is noted for its violent concluding sequences and a complicated rape scene.

Released theatrically the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over the perceived increase of violence in cinema. The film premiered in U.S. cinemas on December 29, 1971. Although controversial in 1971, Straw Dogs is considered by many to be one of Peckinpah's greatest films. A remake directed by Rod Lurie was released on September 16, 2011. Adapted from: The Siege of Trencher's Farm Release date: November 3, 1971 Country of origin: United Kingdom, United States of America Rating: R (USA) Straw Dogs – review | Film | The Guardian The Observer Straw Dogs – review L-R: Drew Powell, James Marsden and Billy Lush in Rod Lurie's 'respectable' version of Straw Dogs.

Photograph: Steve Dietl Saturday 5 November 2011 20.05 EDT First published on Saturday 5 November 2011 20.05 EDT Share on Messenger Close Forty years ago my main regular writing spot was a weekly page of general commentary on the arts for the New Statesman, and due to the current discussion provoked by Julian Barnes's The Sense of an Ending and the appearance of Rod Lurie's 40th anniversary remake of Straw Dogs, two of the items in the column of 2 December 1971 have a certain topical interest. One is about the third winner of the Booker prize, of which I observed: "VS Naipaul's In a Free State is a splendid book but is it, as the Booker conditions demand, a full-length novel?" The other is about a film that had opened the previous week: "I was at the press show for Sam Peckinpah's Straw Dogs, and rarely have I experienced such a palpable sense of shock and disgust sweep through an audience.

Peckinpah is an artist I admire immensely and I wouldn't want to ban his film, but outside the conventional allegorical framework of the western his personal obsessions have exploded like grotesque forces released from some Pandora's box." This view was widely shared, though after further viewings I saw the film in a more positive light. The movie became the centre of an Anglo-American storm over censorship alongside Kubrick's A Clockwork Orange, which like Straw Dogs was based on a British novel and set here. Also concerned in the furore were The Devils and two films attacked for allegedly glorifying fascistic vigilante heroes, The French Connection and Dirty Harry. The late 60s/early 70s, with the war raging in Vietnam and Nixon attempting to bestride a divided America, was a time of great violence and repression. The cinema became part of this experience, reflecting, refracting and sometimes confusing it, but rarely, except in the case of John Wayne's simplistically patriotic The Green Berets, directly confronting it. Both Straw Dogs and A Clockwork Orange ran the censors' gauntlet, losing a few feet of celluloid along the way.

The events of that time, which included the resignation of the BBFC's secretary, Stephen Murphy, are well covered by Stevie Simkin's thoroughly researched Straw Dogs in a new series of books on controversial films (Palgrave Macmillan). Rod Lurie, a highly competent film-maker whose best picture to date is the political drama The Contender starring Jeff Bridges as a liberal US president, has not gone back to Gordon Williams's novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. Instead, he has transposed the screenplay of Straw Dogs (credited to Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman) from Cornwall to the deep south. Academic mathematician David Sumner (Dustin Hoffman), escaping from a troubled America to the remote home of his young English wife, Amy (Susan George), has become a Hollywood screenwriter (James Marsden) coming to work on a movie about the siege of Stalingrad at the former Mississippi home of his wife (Kate Bosworth) and to repair the family home damaged by hurricane Katrina.

An almost identical narrative follows in which xenophobic locals act with escalating aggression towards the quiet, retiring city boy, then, following a double rape, are provoked into staging an assault on David's farm, ending in a bloodbath and David's emergence as a vengeful, macho protector of home and hearth. Peckinpah was much influenced by the idea of the playwright-anthropologist Robert Ardrey's book The Territorial Imperative, and noting a similar influence on the works of Harold Pinter (most especially on The Homecoming, which has a similar plot to Straw Dogs) invited Pinter to work on the film. The offer was contemptuously refused. There are some key differences of emphasis, and Lurie to his credit doesn't attempt to up the ante on sex and violence as a means of recreating the sensational response to the 1971 version. Moreover he uses rapid editing in the climactic action sequence, rather than resorting to the slow motion that became established as Peckinpah's stylistic trademark. The surly, aggressive, Hardyesque yokels in the English setting are something of a mystery, the projection of urban fears.

In Lurie's film they belong to a tradition, now a Hollywood standby, of dangerous, gun-toting, backwoods rednecks, which includes Deliverance, a film Peckinpah was preparing to direct when he was diverted towards Straw Dogs. A significant change is brought about by the casting of James Woods as the drunken, incestuous football coach who leads the attack on the farm. A specialist in psychopathic racists, Woods virtually reprises the role of Klansman Byron De La Beckwith, the killer of civil rights leader Medgar Evers who escaped conviction for more than 30 years, whom he played in Ghosts of Mississippi. Woods is wholly repellent. But otherwise, Lurie makes his small-town rabble into a sad collection of resentful losers, lusting after the local beauty who went off to Hollywood and became a minor star. They'd had their one moment in the sun as high-school football stars before settling for a lifetime of boozing, hunting and blue-collar jobs.

Never explained in the original film, the title Straw Dogs comes from a gnomic utterance by the philosopher Lao Tzu that had taken Peckinpah's fancy: "Heaven and earth are ruthless and treat the myriads of creatures as straw dogs; the sage is ruthless and treats the people as straw dogs. Is not the space between heaven and Earth like a bellows?" Martin Baum, Peckinpah's studio boss, liked the title but had no idea what it meant. Lurie, however, has David quote these lines to Amy, applying them sympathetically to their tormentors. Ultimately Lurie's film isn't in the same class as Peckinpah's flawed classic, but it's a respectable, respectful and rather good film. Gordon Williams - IMDb IMDb Gordon Williams was born in 1934 in Paisley, Renfrewshire, Scotland. He is a writer, known for Straw Dogs (1971), Straw Dogs (2011) and The Man Who Had Power Over Women (1970). See full bio » Born: Do you have a demo reel? Add it to your IMDbPage How much of Gordon Williams's work have you seen?

User Polls 1974 Kartal yuvasi (novel "The Siege of Trencher's Farm" - uncredited) 1973 2nd House (TV Series) (novel "The Camp" - 1 episode) - Episode dated 20 October 1973 (1973) ... (novel "The Camp" - as Gordon M. Williams) 1971 Straw Dogs (novel "The Siege of Trencher's Farm" - as Gordon M. Williams) Susan George Sex Scene in "Straw Dogs" - YouRepeat Add our chrome extension to repeat YouTube videos at the click of a button Susan George Sex Scene in "Straw Dogs" Choose your time range using the slider. Start: Use this link to share your repeat GIF Creation Settings Separate tags with commas or press enter (max 5 tags) Quick GIF Create Tomb Raider's Controversial "Rape" Scene Straw Dogs Straw Dogs is a 1971 psychological thriller directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Dustin Hoffman and Susan George. The screenplay by Peckinpah and David Zelag Goodman is based upon Gordon M.

Williams's 1969 novel The Siege of Trencher's Farm. The film's title derives from a discussion in the Tao Te Ching that likens the ancient Chinese ceremonial straw dog to forms without substance. The film is noted for its violent concluding sequences and a complicated rape scene. Released theatrically the same year as A Clockwork Orange, The French Connection, and Dirty Harry, the film sparked heated controversy over the perceived increase of violence in cinema. The film premiered in U.S. cinemas on December 29, 1971. Although controversial in 1971, Straw Dogs is considered by many to be one of Peckinpah's greatest films. A remake directed by Rod Lurie was released on September 16, 2011. Adapted from: The Siege of Trencher's Farm Release date: November 3, 1971 Country of origin: United Kingdom, United States of America Rating: R (USA)

Question: The story ‘The Siege of Trencher’s Farm' was released as which 1971 film?
Answer: Straw Dogs